1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information recording apparatus capable of recording data on a storage medium which is detachably mounted to a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, or the like, and a control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of the information processing apparatuses capable of taking in data and image pickup apparatuses such as digital cameras are often configured to record input data and captured video on a detachably mountable storage medium.
Examples of such a storage medium include, a magnetic tape and an optical disk to which random accesses can be made, an HDD (hard disk drive), a flash memory, and a memory card, which are used in many cases with a view to their storage capacity, access speed, impact resistance, etc.
Mounting and detachment of the storage medium can often be easily performed in such a camera. However, a user may forget to mount the detached storage medium to the camera in some cases.
In view of the above, according to a technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-115669, in order to inform that the storage medium is not mounted, for example, a warning is output even when a display unit is in a non-display state.
Also, even in the case where the storage medium is mounted, if the remaining capacity amount is small it may be difficult to adequately perform the image pickup.
In addition, for example, in a case where the storage medium is replaced, if a type of the storage medium is not checked carefully, a performance of the storage medium may be not satisfactory as compared with a performance demanded by the recording apparatus such as a capacity or a recording speed.
As to the above, according to a technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-148723, a performance of a recording rate of an external storage medium is detected and an optimal recording mode corresponding to the performance is selected to perform the recording processing.
However, in a case where such a temporal storage medium is used, the user may need to perform a so-called backup operation for transferring images from the storage medium to an external storage medium and a deletion operation for deleting the backed-up images. This is because if these operations are not performed, the free space of the temporal storage medium may run out, and the situation may occur where the next image pickup cannot be performed.
Also, when the deletion operation is performed for securing the free space of the storage medium, the situation may occur where a battery is excessively consumed while the user is away from home, or an image the user wishes to save may need to be deleted.
The following technologies are disclosed as generally related to the backup operation to the external storage medium and the deletion operation.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-51682 discloses a technology of outputting, in a case where there is an image which has not been processed in the backup operation, a message for urging the user to perform the backup of the image.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-21669 discloses a technology of urging the user to pay attention so that the operation is not interrupted during the backup operation.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228991 discloses a technology of sequentially automatically deleting the transferred images.
However, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-115669, it may occur that a warning is output for the first time when a power source is turned ON immediately before the camera is used, and thus when it is found that the storage medium is not mounted while the user is away from home, image pickup cannot be performed unless the detached storage medium is at hand.
In addition, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-148723, the performance determination is performed also for the first time when the power source is turned ON immediately before the camera is used.
According to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-51682, the user is urged to perform the backup of the image which has not been processed in the backup operation, and according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-21669, the backup operation is aimed to be executed with certainty. That is, these technologies generally do not relate to deletion of the backed-up images. In addition, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-51682 and also the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-21669, no opportunity is provided to the user for checking the recordable capacity of the storage medium until the power source is turned ON to actually start the image pickup.
For that reason, according to these technologies, the situation may occur where the image pickup cannot be adequately performed because the free space of the storage medium is running out or the deletion operation for securing the capacity of the storage medium has not been performed, or the user may realize the necessity of the deletion operation only for the first time when the power source is turned ON.
Furthermore, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-21669, the connection typically cannot be cancelled until all the backup operations are completed, and thus the technology may not provide superior usability as the user may miss an unexpected photo opportunity.
In addition, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228991, the transferred images are automatically deleted, but it can be difficult to find out whether a non-transferred or transferred image exists, and an image the user wishes to save may also be automatically deleted. Thus, the technology may not provide superior usability. Instead, on the occasion of the deletion operation on the recorded images, the user may prefer to be able to arbitrarily decide which image is deleted or not.
In addition, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228991, until the power source is turned ON to actually start the image pickup, no opportunity may otherwise be provided to the user for checking the recordable capacity of the storage medium. For that reason, although the transferred images are automatically deleted, the user may only realize the necessity of the deletion operation for the first time when the power source is turned ON and as the desired free space is running out. Therefore, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228991, it may be difficult for the user to satisfactorily avoid the situation where the free space of the storage medium is running out and the image pickup cannot be continued or the deletion operation needs to be performed for securing the free space of the storage medium.